June 16, 2012

Insight From The Ace

One of the most frustrating thing about the politically unaware is their unchanging belief that Something must be done! (all attempts to panic the public into agreeing that Something Must Be Done! are directed at this cohort), but they have little idea of what, specifically, should be done. Something. You know, something. Something must be done, why are you not getting this?

One thing many conservatives never acknowledge is that, ultimately, a successful candidate must agree with this cohort that Something Must Be Done. They cannot be argued out of this position; they've held it all their lives. It's not merely a belief, it's an article of faith.

It's the single thing they know about politics -- Something must be done.

It's a libertarian article of faith that most of our economic pain comes about because of all the things government does that it shouldn't do. Over the last few years Barack Obama has very ably demonstrated many of the specific things government shouldn't do.

At a time when America is in dire need of job growth, the Obama administration stepped in to block the opening of a non-union Boeing plant in South Carolina. Then there was the offshore oil drilling moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico, and almost simultaneously the administration set about killing the Keystone pipeline construction project.

While actively stifling some business activities, the Obama administration put its thumb on the scale to favor others, running up the deficit to hand vast sums to failing green companies like Solyndra. Examples abound of government interfering where it shouldn't at Obama's direction.

But as Ace points out, preaching that the government shouldn't do something is a losing argument, and fortunately, Mitt Romney gets the point.

If you believe in laissez-faire economics, you shouldn't say the government should not be involved in the private sector, as a matter of politics. You should say, as Romney does, that the government should "unleash the private sector."

See, that's something. He's saying he's going to do Something. Something must be done, and that something is "unleashing the private sector."

Just something to keep in mind. The difference we're quibbling about, in some of these ideological disputes, is whether we're going to employ an active verb or a passive verb in describing policy.

Newt Knew This! Newt was a master of this. He was always proposing to do something, and not just do something, mind you, but do something fundamentally transformative.

Because, Something Must Be Done.

It's true. Something Must Be Done. Obama has brought us to the point where Something Must Be Done, and even a small-L libertarian can see that Something Must Be Done. Something Will Be Done. November.